In recent years, demands for reducing the weights of tires for improving the fuel efficiency of automobiles have been increased. To meet such demands, the structures of steel wires used in belts as members for reinforcing tires have been examined in the past, and various novel technologies for the structures have been proposed. For example, Patent Documents 1 to 3 propose rubber article reinforcing steel wires which can improve the durability of tires while achieving weight reduction by allowing the cross-sectional shape of wires to have track, rectangular, and oval cross-sectional shapes.
In addition, bending fatigue properties are important for steel wires which can be embedded in rubber articles such as tires and industrial belts because tension and bending force are applied to the steel wires. Against such a problem, Patent Document 4 proposes a rubber article reinforcing wire having a flat cross-sectional shape which is a wire preferable as a material for reinforcing the belt of a tire and is improved in fatigue durability without deteriorating various tire performances by allowing the wire to have a smooth surface with roughness that is a predetermined value or less and by allowing the wire to have a predetermined cross-sectional shape.